Brink review

Brink's design draws from both sides of the established mold for shooters, melding together a single-player campaign with a multiplayer game built around developing unique player characters. The result creates a hybrid team-based shooter with a story to tell that maintains a fast but purposeful pace whether or not it's being played online with others. That is, when it works. Brink seems to live up to its promises in stretches where all of its pieces come together perfectly in sync. I'm holding down my role, contributing to the team. Others are playing along and doing the same--some of them friends, some of them strangers, and some of them AI bots. And we're succeeding, or failing, together. But Brink is a tease and its own worst enemy. Its complex mix of components introduces a number of potential failure points, that developer Splash Damage hasn't sufficiently solved. As a result, Brink struggles to hold all of its pieces together. When it starts to fall apart, it comes crashing down like a house of cards. There is no middle ground with Brink. It's either working, with everyone in the flow of the game, or it's a confusing, nearly unplayable mess. Technical execution is only one of the problems, but it's a big one. Something is not completely right with the way Brink handles its online connections. At times the view spastically hops around, with the game seemingly unable to figure out where the character actually is. It shows one point of view for a moment, and then changes its mind, abruptly teleporting me several feet away. This most frequently happens coming back into the game after getting killed, making it extra annoying when all I want to do is get back into action. The 360 version of the game suffered from this hiccup the most, but I saw similar behavior on PC, even with dedicated servers. I expect these issues to be temporary and taken care of with a patch. The same can not be said for the rest of Brink's challenges. I hesitate to call them "problems" because they're more about the nature of the game. For all the talk of making a game anyone could hop into and have fun with, Brink is a complex game. It demands a lot of its players to get their fun back out of it. That may be too much to ask of the general online community simply obsessed with the prestige of its kill count. Even for experienced shooter players, the first few matches of Brink are bound to be a little befuddling at best. The basics of pointing the business end of an assault rifle at the enemy and squeezing the trigger remains the same. Beyond that, though, there's a whole new language to learn for how Brink explains what's going on, what needs to happen next, and how best to help the team make that happen. Brink's greatest transgression might be overestimating the ability of players to get how the game works. A ridiculously long tutorial video hints that the developers may have figured this out, but too late to make substantive changes to the game. Needless to say, at over ten minutes long, the video is good for little more than building irritation while waiting to actually play the game. Neither do the tutorial challenges offer the intended help in learning the game. The developers had the right idea in incentivizing the challenges to get players to do them (weapon unlocks open through completing them). But they serve solely as drills, offering little more than a chance to upgrade one's skills in the game as opposed to actually learning the core concepts. In the end, Brink becomes a baptism by fire with the real learning of how to play the game taking place in live matches. Despite the perseverance it took to get there, I found the payoff to learning how to play Brink worth the effort. Though the wealth of classes, skills, and weapon upgrades presented a lot to pick up at first, I found that doing so opened up a tremendous amount of flexibility in matches. Unlike other team-based games where I might choose a role and stick with it most of the way, I found myself swapping classes several times per game. Sometimes I changed just to get in there with the class needed to accomplish the next primary objective. But almost as often I'd select a role that would figure in as support whether as a medic to help keep the team up, an engineer to establish a defensive position, or something else along those lines. It's this deeper sense of satisfaction from figuring out the best way to contribute to the team's success at which Brink most excels. The firefights get plenty intense, but the down-the-sights action in Brink is sterile. The guns could be as soon firing paintballs for all the impact they seem to have. Though there are a number of models in each class of weapon, the differences are slim. I wound up using the different variants to remember which setup I had on each. For instance I had my "silent" rig with silencer setup on one assault rifle, while on another I had my "full loud" tweaks for fast reload and maximum damage.

Players have plenty of customization options in Brink.

To really bring out its best, Brink needs to be played with real people online. Yes, it can be completely played offline, with AI-controlled bots filling out both teams, and, with the difficulty turned up, these drones do an impressive job of using all the tools at their disposal much as a human player would. They do not, however, coordinate together all that well. Nor did the paper-thin story do much to engage me the way a true single-player game would. The cutscenes that introduce each level are good for little more than a chuckle and will be relegated to "skip" after the first play through. Though the story hook didn't set, I find it hard to imagine how any game where each scenario is intended to be played over and over could pull off sitting through story scenes each time. That won't be what puts me off Brink. Nor will it be the lackluster feel of the shooting. I suspect I'll tire of the included levels, which have already started to feel a little repetitious, long before I tire of the game. Until then I'll keep coming back for the dynamic game Brink gives me as I swap around roles always looking for the best way to help my team get a win.

Garnett Lee

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May 17, 2011 12:45 PM

Garnett Lee posted a new article, Brink review.

We run up and slide through the world of Brink and come out on the other side with our final review on the new shooter from developer Splash Damage.
- Liquid
  
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  May 17, 2011 1:05 PM
  
  In the old games, I felt like I had to switch to Engineer because we need to get this generator running to get the blast door open.
  
  In Brink, I feel like I have to switch to Engineer because the engineer icon is currently on my screen.
- Navy Spitfire
  
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  May 17, 2011 1:16 PM
  
  The biggest problem is that I don't feel like I'm accomplishing any objectives, or when I am, I don't feel important; besides the 'escort' objectives, I don't feel there is any point other than to just kill.
  
  I play medic the most because I am able to revive and heal people. I played Engi but found myself not doing much; mines were sweet when I got kills, but turrets were useless. I didn't feel weapon buffs did anything. Nothing really for Soldier except ammo refills. I feel operatives are pretty useless, especially disguising; there's really no big incentive to get behind enemy lines.
  - cptstern
    
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    May 17, 2011 1:19 PM
    
    the medium turrent is a lot more powerful but ya a lot of maps have little use for eng unlike rtcw: et
    - Arcanum
      
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      May 17, 2011 4:14 PM
      
      I disagree. A well-placed turret can be very effective, including on offense. It is not, however, the gun of uberdeath that the TF2 turret can be. It won't do shit to people zipping across a narrow field of view, and is easily disabled if you try to have it stop assaults head-on.
      
      Put it in a flanking position, with a good field of view, and it will do good damage. If your allies are keeping the attention of the enemies, it will rape faces.
  - Zoopy_Iscariot
    
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    May 17, 2011 2:00 PM
    
    Almost every map has an Engy specific task since Engies are the only ones who can remove bomb and hack objectives.
    
    Engies give the team damage, damage mitigation (kevlar) which can sway any fire fight (assuming both sides have medic buffs too). They also have zone lock-down with turrets and mines which are most useful on defense.
    
    Operatives in disguises are good to because they can spot mines and players (with an ability) while disguised. They can also use Comm Hacks ability to reveal almost the whole enemy team on the minimap.
    
    Operatives are very good anti-Engineer which is need when Assaulting.
  - sebconn
    
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    May 17, 2011 3:52 PM
    
    Use the objective wheel to change to the appropriate class when needed. For example on container city, provided my team isn't overrun with soliders, I'll start as a solder so I can blow the gate, then switch to Engineer to fix and escort the bot, or if it's another map, switch to operative to hack the needed points.
    
    I think that's the major difference with Brink and say another class based game like TF2, players need to be encouraged more to change classes rather than stay with a set class the entire map, that's the advantage of control points.
    
    Although the control points are another issue, I've found in online games some people feel the need to capture control points more than achieve the primary objective.
    
    That's the problem with this game still, people don't know how to play, although that's starting to change, every now and then I'll join an amazing public game where people are working together, and every time that happens the game is amazing. Other times I'll join and every one is playing TDM as a medic and only healing themselves, which makes me promptly rage quit.
  - spiderfill
    
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    May 17, 2011 4:12 PM
    
    operatives in wolfET could finish objectives behind enemy lines which made them hella powerful. i wonder why they got gimped
    - Sgt_Boomstick
      
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      May 17, 2011 4:37 PM
      
      Ya operatives definitely can't pull their weight in this game unless it is a hacking objective of course. They are nowhere near as effective as TF2 spy or anything like that. Disguising is pointless. Hacking a turret is kind of cool though.
- Pneum0
  
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  May 17, 2011 1:55 PM
  
  I can't wait to play this later. It's addictive.
- clickles
  
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  May 17, 2011 1:57 PM
  
  I'm kind of upset I bought this game. It feels console'ish (PC version); the gun-play and guns remind me too much of Call of Duty, I honestly cannot stand that game. Just another shooter in the hundreds that have been released in the past few years that has not impressed me what so ever. The movement is kind of neat though I will give it that. Having a character that I can customize is kind of fun too. The game seems like it has a lot of potential. Brink feels as if it's only 60% done.
- Jobos
  
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  May 17, 2011 2:01 PM
  
  Maybe this is one of those games that is currently like a mass Beta, and they'll patch and balance it over the next six months?
  - Pneum0
    
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    May 17, 2011 2:22 PM
    
    It's gotten alot better since launch, the last few times I played I didn't see it at all.
    - Pneum0
      
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      May 17, 2011 2:22 PM
      
      -rubber banding.. that is.
  - Sgt_Boomstick
    
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    May 17, 2011 4:28 PM
    
    By then the community will have rotted away.
    - Nitrium
      
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      May 17, 2011 5:49 PM
      
      Dunno about the overall community, but here in the Shack I already don't see many people playing it. I'm curious about the next weekend, with other solid titles around like The Witcher 2, Terraria, L.A. Noire and others.
- Zatric
  
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  May 17, 2011 2:27 PM
  
  For the most part I'm enjoying the game, the only thing that is really bothering me is that I keep getting the invisible enemy bug and no sound bug.
  - Sgt_Boomstick
    
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    May 17, 2011 4:30 PM
    
    2 of the most obnoxious bugs in gaming history. BF2 had the red/blue tag bug and people felt that was bad. But that is nothing compared to having INVISIBLE enemies.
- sebconn
  
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  May 17, 2011 3:56 PM
  
  Getting well and truly over the AMD/ATI framerate issue, 11.5a did SFA. This game is buggy as hell, but man it can be fun sometimes and has massive potential.
- the archvile
  
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  May 17, 2011 4:02 PM
  
  I never got to play enough Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory back in 2003, so I really, REALLY like Brink.
  - Rice-Rocketeer
    
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    May 17, 2011 4:30 PM
    
    Yeah, I'm liking it quite a bit too.
- megreedy
  
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  May 17, 2011 4:16 PM
  
  this article is almost excactly what i posted on my squads site... lol, first thing out of my "mouth" was that it has a steep learning curve, but once you get the hang of it; it starts to shine... i do feel the guns are underpowered a bit, and the most frustrating thing is getting players on your team that don't help with the objective...
  
  this commment in the article nailed it as well for me, "The firefights get plenty intense, but the down-the-sights action in Brink is sterile."
- Sgt_Boomstick
  
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  May 17, 2011 4:32 PM
  
  Overall this review is sound. Flawed game that has its moments. Will be a flash in the MP pan. I predict, 6 months from now it will polished and have an anemic but dedicated community.
  - Pneum0
    
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    May 17, 2011 4:39 PM
    
    It's a good game, and i'm glad I bought it regardless what happens.
- ColoradoCNC
  
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  May 17, 2011 4:41 PM
  
  The more I play the more I'm enjoying it. It definitely has a bit of a learning curve, but now that I'm starting to figure out what the classes actually do, it's been a lot of fun. My one big annoyance is the fact that they don't do a good job of letting you know that beating the challenges (and getting the associated unlocks) is pretty much required if you want to be in any sort of position to be competitive.
- [deleted] 2084680424
  
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  May 17, 2011 5:02 PM
  
  [deleted]
- EnderWigginDA
  
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  May 17, 2011 5:28 PM
  
  Playing Brink has definitely cut back on my shack time. I love this game. But I get to play it with friends and we have so much fun.
- GodFather
  
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  May 18, 2011 10:53 AM
  
  This is a game that will be dead in the water a month from now. I was excited about this game but feel by the time the multiplayer issues are addressed people will have moved on to something else...
- rtricoche
  
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  May 18, 2011 2:47 PM
  
  Game would have been awesome if only the would have sold a completed game instead of a pre-alpha game. There not patching the game their still writing code. This game is wash. It had 1 week to make an impression and it did. The impression was awful. It made promises and it had good intentions, but it failed to deliver. Other more capable devs will pick up where they left off and complete this work in other games much like Borderlands made good the promises of Hellgate: London.
  
  That's it.
  Fuck this game.
- ironhorse86
  
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  May 18, 2011 7:02 PM
  
  am i the only one who felt the screenshots over the years are false advertising? the ingame graphics blow, even with 1920 x 1080 and all settings on high... extremely low res textures everywhere and blocky - low pixel models with small small small (trash level) console maps. mixed with the botched FOV and i just cant help but feel these people sold us a different product .. wheres that clear, hi res image?
- fauljosh
  
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  May 18, 2011 8:52 PM
  
  This game was just terrible. I'm so glad I decided to rent it first. No amount of patching will fix this game for me. I realize some people may like it but this game is definitely not for me.